Saturday, May 16, 2009
Maggie Roark -- very good Simpsons spoof on Rand
A lot of people use the Simpsons spoof to laugh at Objectivism and Rand, but it's actually quite good and just. I love it. It's a YouTube video. Very creative! I think the Simpsons creators are closet Objectivists -- or at least admirers.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Dead Eyes doublespeak on executive pay
A current story in the Wall Street Journal explained how Obama Dead Eyes wants legislation putting vast restrictions on corporate pay and bonuses. I wrote a letter (below) to the WSJ on this latest fascism by the Uterus-in-Chief.
___________
If the current administration is attempting to compete with George Orwell for the doublespeak prize, I dare not bet on the winner.
It’s latest duplicity involves its declaration of “nots” on executive pay. It is “not” about micro-management, and it is “not” about capping compensation.
These cynical prevarications are expected to be as blithely accepted as Orwellian euphemisms – and are executed with serious mien or casual smiles of comfort. We are to accept them as we were to accept cross-fingered vows that pro-union legislation for the last 70 years was not meant to hobble corporations or the tax-code congressional changes of the early ‘90s were also not supposed to cap executive pay.
If some lower-income Americans are currently smirking at this latent fascism, they will not be smiling when our top talent says “adios” to working in America – and learns to speak Chinese.
___________
If the current administration is attempting to compete with George Orwell for the doublespeak prize, I dare not bet on the winner.
It’s latest duplicity involves its declaration of “nots” on executive pay. It is “not” about micro-management, and it is “not” about capping compensation.
These cynical prevarications are expected to be as blithely accepted as Orwellian euphemisms – and are executed with serious mien or casual smiles of comfort. We are to accept them as we were to accept cross-fingered vows that pro-union legislation for the last 70 years was not meant to hobble corporations or the tax-code congressional changes of the early ‘90s were also not supposed to cap executive pay.
If some lower-income Americans are currently smirking at this latent fascism, they will not be smiling when our top talent says “adios” to working in America – and learns to speak Chinese.
1.4 million free Ayn Rand books in U.S. classrooms
Here's an email I received from the Ayn Rand Institute recently. I felt it was worth copying in complete form because of its wonderful message and information.
___________________
Dear Contributor:
Since the first of the year, you've read a great deal about the work that ARI has done--primarily through the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights--to bring public attention to the economic and political problems facing our country.
Our work on that front continues--and I will continue to update you, through letters and e-mails, on the great strides we are making in ensuring that Ayn Rand's ideas are given increased consideration among policy-makers and the media.
But while we are all preoccupied with the news of the day, and the ever-increasing assaults on freedom and capitalism coming from Washington, ARI has continued to keep the long-term picture in clear focus.
Even as ARC has capitalized on an unprecedented public and media interest in Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, and her ideas, ARI is completing what appears to be another marvelously successful year in our efforts to introduce young readers to Ayn Rand's novels.
RESULTS TO DATE
As of this writing, the total number of copies of Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged shipped to classrooms this school year is 342,984. This represents a 17 percent increase over last year's total of 293,295--and represents a new all-time record for the program.
Since we inaugurated the Free Books to Teachers program with a pilot program in late 2002, the success of the program has been truly staggering. Adding the results above to the results from previous years, we can report the following for the lifetime of this program:
* More than 1.4 million copies of the novels have been sent to teachers.
* More than 30,000 teachers have participated in the Free Books to Teachers program since its inception.
* Ayn Rand's novels are being taught in an estimated 40,000 high school classrooms in the United States and Canada.
* And because many of the novels are read in subsequent years by new groups of students, we now estimate that a total of nearly four million students have been introduced to Ayn Rand's novels since this project began.
These achievements would not have been possible without the continued financial backing of our donors; so I thank you once again for your support of this program.
FEEDBACK FROM EDUCATORS
Nearly every day we hear from teachers participating in the Free Books to Teachers program. Below are a few comments from the more than 300 we received from teachers this year. These are the impressions of teachers actually using the novels in their classrooms.
Their remarks, I believe, eloquently attest to the real impact that this program is having on students.
***
My students primarily come from lower-socio-economic homes and would have never had the chance to engage in such a rich lesson during these hard economic times when money for books is not available to us. I have seen a true personal and educational growth as students learn about Ayn Rand's philosophy through her characters, plot, and the lessons provided for us.
--Bakersfield, CA
The Fountainhead started out as a road to the essay contest and college funds for my seniors, but has become so much more. The critical thinking and literary engagement that has come from reading this text is of amazing worth! . . . Rand was an amazing author; her texts are timeless.
--Baltimore, MD
I have never seen my students so excited about reading a book. Tenth graders who have refused to read any of the books that we've done so far finished reading Anthem weeks before it was required. Students who read The Fountainhead came in everyday to tell me how excited they were about the book. . . . Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
--Springville, UT
Thanks! Please keep this amazing program going! Over the past 7 years I have introduced over a 1,000 students to the work of Ayn Rand through the use of these books . . . I know it has helped to produce some exceptional debaters and influenced the writings of countless students. THANK YOU!
--Hope Mills, NC
I'm sure that you hear it all the time; however, I must tell you that my students cannot stop talking about Anthem. In fact, one student read it seven times! We have had some fascinating group discussions.
--Cocoa, FL
Thank you so much for the copies of Anthem and The Fountainhead. Our students will greatly benefit from the instruction of Ayn Rand's contributions to world literature, and her enduring message of the triumph of the individual against all restrictive systems.
In an age of repetitive sound and thought, it is certainly a privilege to have Ayn Rand's books in America's classrooms.
--Laurel, MS
I am so appreciative of the Institute's generosity and concern for education. I have been using the book for the past 5 years and will continue to do so in the future. I truly believe that the lessons learned from reading the book are totally applicable to the direction that our society seems to be moving in. Students enjoy reading the book and discussing how it is applicable to their lives, today. Once again, thank you for all that you do in providing an invaluable service to our students.
--Rosemont, PA
CONCLUSION
At the beginning of this letter, I alluded to the work we are doing at the Ayn Rand Center to combat the immediate challenge we face in Washington.
Make no mistake--the immediate challenges we face are severe.
But these challenges--among them the unprecedented intrusions of government into nearly every conceivable sector of our economy--represent a symptom, albeit an alarming one.
So while we will fight on the level of immediate, concrete political symptoms--and with ARC we have never been better able to do so--we must continue to treat the underlying disease of collectivism and unreason. The political battles must be fought now; but the culture must be repaired in the long term.
Through the Free Books to Teachers program; our essay contests (which have set new all-time records this year); the continued growth and success of the OAC and the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, we are continuing to work to address the fundamental, underlying problems that have led us to the political challenges we currently face.
It's for this reason that I hope that I can count on your continued--and if possible, increased--support, as we prepare for the eighth year of the Ayn Rand Institute's Free Books to Teachers program, and the 25th year of our annual essay contests.
Your continued and increased support will allow us to continue to tackle both the immediate problems--and ultimately, cure the underlying causes.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and your support.
Sincerely,
Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director
» Donate now:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/R?i=XEVunraM5W9gVqXJuaDP0g.
___________________
Dear Contributor:
Since the first of the year, you've read a great deal about the work that ARI has done--primarily through the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights--to bring public attention to the economic and political problems facing our country.
Our work on that front continues--and I will continue to update you, through letters and e-mails, on the great strides we are making in ensuring that Ayn Rand's ideas are given increased consideration among policy-makers and the media.
But while we are all preoccupied with the news of the day, and the ever-increasing assaults on freedom and capitalism coming from Washington, ARI has continued to keep the long-term picture in clear focus.
Even as ARC has capitalized on an unprecedented public and media interest in Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, and her ideas, ARI is completing what appears to be another marvelously successful year in our efforts to introduce young readers to Ayn Rand's novels.
RESULTS TO DATE
As of this writing, the total number of copies of Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged shipped to classrooms this school year is 342,984. This represents a 17 percent increase over last year's total of 293,295--and represents a new all-time record for the program.
Since we inaugurated the Free Books to Teachers program with a pilot program in late 2002, the success of the program has been truly staggering. Adding the results above to the results from previous years, we can report the following for the lifetime of this program:
* More than 1.4 million copies of the novels have been sent to teachers.
* More than 30,000 teachers have participated in the Free Books to Teachers program since its inception.
* Ayn Rand's novels are being taught in an estimated 40,000 high school classrooms in the United States and Canada.
* And because many of the novels are read in subsequent years by new groups of students, we now estimate that a total of nearly four million students have been introduced to Ayn Rand's novels since this project began.
These achievements would not have been possible without the continued financial backing of our donors; so I thank you once again for your support of this program.
FEEDBACK FROM EDUCATORS
Nearly every day we hear from teachers participating in the Free Books to Teachers program. Below are a few comments from the more than 300 we received from teachers this year. These are the impressions of teachers actually using the novels in their classrooms.
Their remarks, I believe, eloquently attest to the real impact that this program is having on students.
***
My students primarily come from lower-socio-economic homes and would have never had the chance to engage in such a rich lesson during these hard economic times when money for books is not available to us. I have seen a true personal and educational growth as students learn about Ayn Rand's philosophy through her characters, plot, and the lessons provided for us.
--Bakersfield, CA
The Fountainhead started out as a road to the essay contest and college funds for my seniors, but has become so much more. The critical thinking and literary engagement that has come from reading this text is of amazing worth! . . . Rand was an amazing author; her texts are timeless.
--Baltimore, MD
I have never seen my students so excited about reading a book. Tenth graders who have refused to read any of the books that we've done so far finished reading Anthem weeks before it was required. Students who read The Fountainhead came in everyday to tell me how excited they were about the book. . . . Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
--Springville, UT
Thanks! Please keep this amazing program going! Over the past 7 years I have introduced over a 1,000 students to the work of Ayn Rand through the use of these books . . . I know it has helped to produce some exceptional debaters and influenced the writings of countless students. THANK YOU!
--Hope Mills, NC
I'm sure that you hear it all the time; however, I must tell you that my students cannot stop talking about Anthem. In fact, one student read it seven times! We have had some fascinating group discussions.
--Cocoa, FL
Thank you so much for the copies of Anthem and The Fountainhead. Our students will greatly benefit from the instruction of Ayn Rand's contributions to world literature, and her enduring message of the triumph of the individual against all restrictive systems.
In an age of repetitive sound and thought, it is certainly a privilege to have Ayn Rand's books in America's classrooms.
--Laurel, MS
I am so appreciative of the Institute's generosity and concern for education. I have been using the book for the past 5 years and will continue to do so in the future. I truly believe that the lessons learned from reading the book are totally applicable to the direction that our society seems to be moving in. Students enjoy reading the book and discussing how it is applicable to their lives, today. Once again, thank you for all that you do in providing an invaluable service to our students.
--Rosemont, PA
CONCLUSION
At the beginning of this letter, I alluded to the work we are doing at the Ayn Rand Center to combat the immediate challenge we face in Washington.
Make no mistake--the immediate challenges we face are severe.
But these challenges--among them the unprecedented intrusions of government into nearly every conceivable sector of our economy--represent a symptom, albeit an alarming one.
So while we will fight on the level of immediate, concrete political symptoms--and with ARC we have never been better able to do so--we must continue to treat the underlying disease of collectivism and unreason. The political battles must be fought now; but the culture must be repaired in the long term.
Through the Free Books to Teachers program; our essay contests (which have set new all-time records this year); the continued growth and success of the OAC and the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, we are continuing to work to address the fundamental, underlying problems that have led us to the political challenges we currently face.
It's for this reason that I hope that I can count on your continued--and if possible, increased--support, as we prepare for the eighth year of the Ayn Rand Institute's Free Books to Teachers program, and the 25th year of our annual essay contests.
Your continued and increased support will allow us to continue to tackle both the immediate problems--and ultimately, cure the underlying causes.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and your support.
Sincerely,
Yaron Brook
President and Executive Director
» Donate now:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/R?i=XEVunraM5W9gVqXJuaDP0g.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Is Obama Dead Eyes reading my work?
Obama Dead Eyes evidently reads the New York Times and The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, according to snooze accounts.
That means that ODE may have actually read my recent WSJ letter on how humans have a right to ingest anything they wish to, including drugs.
Now, I say this only because ODE and the ODE-ettes (his staff, of course) have just decided that they are not going to pursue medical marijuana folks and even some folks in Seattle who are openly doing Mary-Jane in one district and some other stuff. And the ODE-ettes plan to focus more on prevention than on criminality concerning drugs.
So, my dear readers, is national policy being run by your humble antagonista?
Maybe? Maybe not?
Oh, hell, let's just admit it. I'm running this country!!
Just call me the Eminence Rouge, Blanc et Bleu.
That means that ODE may have actually read my recent WSJ letter on how humans have a right to ingest anything they wish to, including drugs.
Now, I say this only because ODE and the ODE-ettes (his staff, of course) have just decided that they are not going to pursue medical marijuana folks and even some folks in Seattle who are openly doing Mary-Jane in one district and some other stuff. And the ODE-ettes plan to focus more on prevention than on criminality concerning drugs.
So, my dear readers, is national policy being run by your humble antagonista?
Maybe? Maybe not?
Oh, hell, let's just admit it. I'm running this country!!
Just call me the Eminence Rouge, Blanc et Bleu.
Time for Intel to "Atlas Shrug"
The barbarians at the EU just fined Intel for "monopolistic" practices on discounting. Here's my letter to the editor on this vile subject, which was reported today in the Wall Street Journal:
_____________________________
The coercive confiscation of Intel’s hard-earned cash is grand larceny on a scale that would make a Barbary Coast pirate blush.
It is another ugly indication of government’s use of alleged “anti-trust” laws to govern and feed off businesses that have become hugely successful by creating a model that is innovative and, at times, revolutionary. Anyone who knows the history of Intel (or Microsoft or Google or Standard Oil) knows that each of these companies invested large percentages of revenues in extraordinary research and development to stay ahead of competition.
Each of these companies received my (and/or other citizens’) pocket cash because they had (have) an awesome product. Their “discounts” lowered prices across the board, thereby raising the standard of living for all who purchased their products – not to mention raised the happiness of each of us who purchased their product.
The grand irony in this latest grand larceny is that the EU professes Intel to be a coercive monopoly, when in fact the only coercive monopoly in the history of civilization is government and entities backed, perforce, by government.
The ideal solution to the Chavez wannabes across the pond would be for Intel to firmly say: “If you wish to steal our money and presume control of our business, then we will take our business out of the EU, effective immediately.” It would be a divine “Atlas Shrugged” moment.
That, unfortunately, won’t happen. Too bad. The gnashing of political teeth in such a scenario would sync mellifluously with much of Europe’s “modern” music.
_____________________________
The coercive confiscation of Intel’s hard-earned cash is grand larceny on a scale that would make a Barbary Coast pirate blush.
It is another ugly indication of government’s use of alleged “anti-trust” laws to govern and feed off businesses that have become hugely successful by creating a model that is innovative and, at times, revolutionary. Anyone who knows the history of Intel (or Microsoft or Google or Standard Oil) knows that each of these companies invested large percentages of revenues in extraordinary research and development to stay ahead of competition.
Each of these companies received my (and/or other citizens’) pocket cash because they had (have) an awesome product. Their “discounts” lowered prices across the board, thereby raising the standard of living for all who purchased their products – not to mention raised the happiness of each of us who purchased their product.
The grand irony in this latest grand larceny is that the EU professes Intel to be a coercive monopoly, when in fact the only coercive monopoly in the history of civilization is government and entities backed, perforce, by government.
The ideal solution to the Chavez wannabes across the pond would be for Intel to firmly say: “If you wish to steal our money and presume control of our business, then we will take our business out of the EU, effective immediately.” It would be a divine “Atlas Shrugged” moment.
That, unfortunately, won’t happen. Too bad. The gnashing of political teeth in such a scenario would sync mellifluously with much of Europe’s “modern” music.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Hey, damn, stop being such a Bogart, man!
The Wall Street Journal printed another one of my letters today. This one is about how we need to legalize drugs. It was in response to a column written two weeks ago at the WSJ.
The absence of conscience and the chilling personality
Here's another insightful column from Cynthia Yockey on sociopaths, including Obama Dead Eyes and the 4% of the U.S. population that manipulates human beings for their own pleasure and aggrandizement. This column quotes generously from noted psychologists who have studied such personalities and given detailed, specific facts about how they behave and what it means.
It describes ODE and many others who have run through many of our lives at some point in time.
It describes ODE and many others who have run through many of our lives at some point in time.
Obama Dead Eyes, the sociopath
I've been referring to Dead Eyes as a sociopath in conversation with many of you, my readers, but I just realized I haven't actually called him that on any of my posts. I discovered this after reading this blisteringly funny column by Cynthia Yockey on her blog and then doing a search on my blog for that word.
Check Cynthia out. You'll be nodding your head vigorously -- when you're not laughing your ass off!
Check Cynthia out. You'll be nodding your head vigorously -- when you're not laughing your ass off!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The 10th Amendment takes power away from the Feds
Here's a terrific column on states rights and how the federal government has gotten unconstitutionally involved in citizens lives, starting overwhelmingly during FDR's fascist administration.
I think that some bankrolled citizens could take the feds to court on virtually every piece of intrusive legislation passed in the last 100 years by using the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
I think that some bankrolled citizens could take the feds to court on virtually every piece of intrusive legislation passed in the last 100 years by using the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.
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